I have seen the best I'll have
by keptunsed
Summary: AU/Naomily  "It's as if everything in her entire life has built up to this one moment, and she can't stand it, she can't stand the look in those brown eyes, she can't say goodbye"
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- Hi there! I deleted my last story because I just wasn't feeling it. But here I am with a new one. I've had this story in my head for a while. I was inspired a little bit by A Walk to remember and Sweet November. :)_ Let me go ahead and say I am no doctor and I have no interest in being one! I've stretched a little bit of the truth with all the medical stuff for the flow of the story ok? Try not to hate on me if I'm not 100% correct!_**

**Disclaimer-Skins is not mine, don't sue me. That would be unpleasant. **

**

* * *

**

Chapter 1

_i don't even try_  
_i know I have seen the best i'll have._

_-Guster (Rainy day)  
_

She can't remember exactly when it happened, when she stopped being afraid of death. I mean, really stopped being afraid of it. She must think it's at least a good thing to accept, she must, she keeps telling herself. She wonders if life really is like the movies sometimes, where the good die young and bad things happen to good people. But she dismisses the thought, she doesn't see herself as good, only young. Too young for this to be happening. "25 years old and it's the beginning of the end" she says to herself, shaking her head sadly.

She's sitting on the cold tile floor of her kitchen. Her back pressed up against the cabinets. A broken bottle of vodka, shattered on the ground next to her. She looks down at her left hand and loses herself in the sight before her. Red. So much red. In the midst of attempting to clean up the bottle of vodka she so carelessly dropped, she cut her hand. She stares, wondering silently to herself how something so vital to her existence, something so incredibly important could be betraying her. She feels nauseous and turns her head away. Turns away from the blood that she now views as toxic, the blood that is now killing her.

So caught up in her own head she doesn't even hear the front door knock. Finally brought out of her reverie by Cook's booming voice.

"Naomikins! I forgot my fookin' key again! Open the fuck up!" she hears as the incessant pounding on the door continues.

She gets up quickly, grabbing a dish towel in the process and putting it to her wounded hand. " For fucks sake" she whispers to herself.

She makes her way over to the door and unlocks it letting the sandy blonde haired boy (well…man, but she will always view him as a boy) into the loft.

"What in the fuck happened to your hand?" He says, concerned etched in his voice as he grabs for Naomi's hand.

She pulls her hand from his grasp quickly, almost violently. "Dropped a bottle of vodka, tried to clean it up but you know how clumsy I can be" She says indifferently.

Cook chuckles slightly " Yeah, mate, I know" and Naomi is relieved that he leaves it at that.

She walks back into the kitchen and heads for the sink to clean off her hand, silently dreading the conversation she's about to have with her best mate, her room mate, her anchor.

Her and Cook met in College several years ago. Cook hitting on her and asking if she wanted to "Willy waggle" and her quick witted reply of " You couldn't make me feel alright if you stapled your tongue to my clit and stood on a cement mixer" The rest, as cliché as it is, was history. He was her damage control and she was his, their dynamic was surprisingly balanced for two incredibly un-balanced people.

Walking into the living room after treating her wound she finds Cook sitting silently on the couch looking solemn, but the second he notices her presence the look is gone, replaced by a smug smile.

'_Oh, so this is how it's going to go' _she says to herself. Cook is going to put on his brave act, if only merely being brave for her. She clears her throat, suddenly feeling like the deserts of Afghanistan have made their way into her mouth.

"What? Why are you giving me that cheeky grin?' she croaks out. He just looks at her, still smiling, as if formulating the right words.

"What was the vodka for Naoms'? Tell me it was for celebrating, yeah?" He has a forced smile on his face that doesn't quite reach his eyes, his eyes very clearly looking apprehensive and wishful.

In just that little time Naomi feels so many emotions coursing through her veins. Oh god, her veins, she thinks of the blood and all of that betrayal. Her heart is pounding so fast and she silently wishes that it would burst right out of her chest and kill her, right now, in this living room so she doesn't have to have this conversation, so she doesn't have to break Cook's heart.

She notices that Cook is still staring at her intently, she doesn't know what to say, her mouth seeming to formulate words before her brain can catch up.

"I…I needed a drink James" she stumbles out.

Cook looks at her intensely, his brows shooting up at the mention of his first name. '_Shit' _she thinks, this is not how she meant to tell him, she wanted to be brave and forthright, seem confident about this.

"Naomi? Wha…What did the doctor say?" he fumbles on his words, he looks petrified and Naomi has to avert her gaze to the floor.

She loses herself for a moment, staring at the patterns on the carpet until Cook's shoes come into view. She slowly raises her head to his eyes. His eyes that are now pleading with her to tell him.

She takes a deep breath, it hurts. She feels like she's drowning in all of these feelings. Pain, so much pain and the regret is becoming so unbearable.

She shakes her head and exhales, composing herself and begins to tell her best friend of her own slow demise.

* * *

**2 hours earlier**

She's sat in a ridiculously uncomfortable leather chair that keeps making inappropriate sounds every time she moves, she can't stop fidgeting at all, picking at her nails, her knee is bouncing erratically.

She looks across the large wooden desk sitting between her and the man that is about to determine her fate. She likes him, has always thought he had a kind face. He's quite older, wrinkles are covering his face along with a well kept gray beard.

He's looking through a file, has been looking through it for what seems like an eternity. She feels as if the world could end with how much time has seemed to pass and then she silently thinks to herself that _her _world could very well end in a matter of moments.

A cough brings her out of her thoughts and the man is now staring at her. Is that pity in his eyes she wonders? And she feels her heart contract painfully, she feels like there isn't enough air in the room, or enough air in general.

"Miss Campbell, How long have we known each other?" he asks, catching Naomi completely off guard.

"Um...Well for almost five years I suppose." she answers back quietly, wondering where this is going.

"Do you remember…" he seems to falter slightly. " When I first diagnosed you with the Acute Leukemia ?"

"Ye…Yes, Of course" Naomi answers back warily. She doesn't like this, she doesn't like this at all.

" And everything that I told you?' he asks. " That you could…" he falters yet again and now Naomi has stopped picking at her hands, her knee has stilled it's movements.

He clears his throat. " That you could relapse? After being in remission?" he finally asks.

"Are you saying?" she stops, feeling breathless she has to compose herself. " Are you saying I've relapsed doc?"

He bows his head down. Naomi is having a hard time telling if he's reading her file or if he is trying to carefully calculate what he's about to say.

"Naomi, the Acute myeloid leukemia it grows quickly. Now the consolidation therapy that we've been doing to keep you in remission, well it didn't seem to work." he was speaking so slowly, as if he was afraid Naomi wouldn't understand.

"It's a cancer of the blood, it's tricky…The chemotherapy you went under worked just good enough to put you in remission. Now we tried to keep it that way, but I'm afraid…I'm afraid Miss Campbell that it grew too rapidly" he's looking at her expectantly and pushes a box of Kleenex towards her on the desk.

She can't speak, she doesn't feel any tears bubbling up behind her eyes, in fact, she doesn't feel much of anything.

"I…I don't…"she trails off, losing her train of thought but quickly enough regaining a new one. " What does this mean?"

"Well, AML is quite rare, only accounting for 1.2% of cancer deaths" he pauses and Naomi has a glimmer of hope. " But, when it's developed at such a stage yours seems to have…" she looks down at her hands now, he doesn't need to say the rest. She gets it.

"What are my choices?" she interrupts his chain of thought.

"Stem cell transplantation or in simpler terms a bone marrow transplant …it would involve more chemo I'm afraid"

"And if I don't go through anymore chemo?" she asks, she needs to know. She can't take the chemo anymore, so much pain, she feels a tight knot in her stomach just thinking about it.

He's not surprised she asked, he expected her to ask such an ominous question. " I'd estimate you'd have about 8 months, maybe less, maybe a little more.

He stands up from his chair now, walking to stand in front of Naomi and sit on the corner of his desk.

He takes her hand in his and looks at her with so much sympathy that Naomi has to quickly look away.

"What are the chances of the stem cell whatever stuff working?" she asks, still not looking at him, she notices that she is gripping onto his hand tightly.

"Naomi, dear, I'm afraid that you have an overproduction of myeloid cells, quite a high count to be honest, it's preventing your bone marrow from producing red blood cells, platelets and white blood cells. " he states in a very professional manner.

Naomi scoffs at this. "Doc, I know all of this already." she says finally looking at him. "What do you recommend I do?"

He pats her hand comfortingly and sighs. " I think any form of treatment would be a waste of your time at this point , Naomi. You'll be far too sick to do anything." he says this as more of a friend than a doctor.

"You'll be far too sick to live, to _really_ live. Do you understand what I'm saying?" he clarifies and Naomi is pretty sure she understands but just needs to be sure.

"I shouldn't do anymore treatment, should I? " she asks, even though he already answered, but she needs to hear him say it again, she needs to get this perfectly clear in her head. " I should just do the best with what time I've got left?

He lets go of Naomi's hand and goes to sit back behind his desk. He looks at her with a sad smile on his face. " I gave you some options Naomi, it is up to you what to do with them. But as a friend, as someone who has grown to know you, I think yes, you should do the best with what you have left."

She walks out of the hospital and looks up into the the clear sky. She briefly wonders how something could be so vast and never ending, how something could be so infinite and immortal. Then she has to compare herself, and her mortality. And in the end it just makes her look back up into the sky, asking to it, or maybe someone she's not sure _Why? Why me?_

_

* * *

_**Alright guys, there you have it. I have a lot of this story already written out, so I'd love to hear your feedback on whether you'd like to read more or not. And yes, there will be lots of Naomily, and soon. ;)**_  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_This world is hard. It has sharp edges and points that cut._

_ It'll make you choose between love, money and sleep._

_Choose love each time__ and sleep when you can, money - only when you must._

_-pleasefindthis  
_

Naomi and Cook are now sitting on the couch in the living room, his arm around her shoulder while she lays slightly in the crook of his neck.

"I called Effy over, hope s'alright?" he asks her hesitantly.

"That's fine Cookie" she says inhaling his scent a little bit, she feels as if her senses have become stronger since she received the bad news.

She thinks maybe it's because she's trying to remember everything now, the way Cook's shoulder feels, hard and muscular and how the tiniest hint of aftershave makes its way into her nostrils. It's comforting, being like this with him, he's always been a teddy bear of sorts to her. She starts to think about missing him and him missing her but she pushes that thought away quickly, she's not ready to think that way just yet.

She told Cook she had decided against anymore treatment, told him everything the doctor said. He was being brave for her. He was being understanding though she could see a well of tears in his eyes when he said " I got your back Naomikins, I got your back." That enough nearly killed her, she decided to seal her heart in a block of ice for the time being.

She keeps wondering why she hasn't cried. She hasn't shed one single tear for herself. But the truth is, she's too tired to cry. She's cried for years through all of the pain. Through all of this mess. I guess she finally settles on the fact that she feels no reason to cry anymore, this was always a possibility and she knew that, has had time to prepare herself somewhat but really, who could ever _truly _prepare themselves for something like this. No one. No one could.

She's nudged out of her deep thoughts by Cook who has put his hand on her face, cupping it gently and staring her straight in the eyes.

"I think Eff is here, I'm just gonna pop up for a bit and get the door alright, Blondie?" He asks with a small, comforting smile gracing his features.

She can't help but smile slightly at the sweet gesture and the nick name he's adopted for her. "Cook it's fine, I don't need to be babysat"

He chuckles slightly and gets up off the couch and winks at her. '_He's being so brave, so wonderful' _Naomi thinks.

Before Naomi can finish the rest of her thoughts Cook is already sat beside her again with his arm around her. Effy , Oh beautiful Effy. She's sitting across from them on the coffee table, her hand on Naomi's knee.

The three of them have been friends almost as long as Naomi and Cook. Cook and Effy were seeing each other for a little while but decided on just being friends, it tore Cook up for a brief time but he's had time to move on from it. They are all very close, only depending on each other, because they knew they always could. Naomi loves them more than she could ever say, they've been though it all. The death of Naomi's mum three years ago, Effy's mental breakdown and Cook's self destructive phase. Inseparable they are.

Effy is looking at her in a way that Naomi has only seen once or twice. It startles her, the fragile look in her eyes. She realizes she is about to break Effy's heart, having already broken Cook's. She grabs a hold of Cook's hand. He threads their fingers together and gives her hand a slight, comforting squeeze.

"Nae?" Effy asks, getting Naomi's attention. Effy is looking between her and Cook, her eyes seem to be pleading for answers.

Naomi is grateful that Cook didn't tell her anything when he called her over. It's best she hears this from her she thinks. She looks up at Cook and he gives her a slight nod, telling her that it will be okay, that he's there and he's not going anywhere.

"I….I've relapsed Eff, the cancer, it…well…the chemo, it didn't work" Naomi has to look away, she doesn't want to watch Effy's heart shatter right in front of her.

"But there's more they can do right? More chemo?" Effy asks, sounding likes she's holding on to all the hope that's left.

Naomi feels Cook shift uncomfortably next to her and she grips his hand even tighter. He responds by gripping back with just as much fervor.

"No Eff…I'm done with treatment" Naomi says finally looking at Effy's strikingly blue eyes.

The thing about Cook and Effy is that they understand everything Naomi has been through. Effy was there shaving Naomi's head right before she went into her first round of chemo. Cook sat with her in the hospital hardly ever leaving her side, practically living off of coffee the entire time. They won't judge her for her decisions, they wont see this as giving up. Acceptance is what it is. And she so desperately needs that right now.

Effy is crying and it jolts something in Naomi so much that her entire body feels like it's burning and she finds that feeling so familiar, it reminds her of the chemo.

Naomi lets go of Cook's hand and reaches her body over to Effy who has her head in her palms, still sitting on the coffee table. She is visibly shaking and Naomi can only wrap the small girl in her arms and say "It's okay" but she realizes it's a little silly to say such a thing when it can't be farther from the truth.

Effy mumbles something incoherently into Naomi's shoulder and Naomi has to pull back a bit and puts her hand on the dark haired girls chin so that they are now looking each other in the eyes.

"What did you say Eff?" Naomi asks, her hands now on Effy's shoulders, rubbing them slightly.

"H…How…How long?" Effy asks in between silent sobs.

"8 months. Give or take" Naomi says in almost a whisper.

Cook sits forward on the couch and grabs both of them into a hug. Naomi feels Effy silently crying against her and feels Cook bury himself inside her neck and breathe deeply. All Naomi can think about is how much she loves the two of them, how badly this hurts, and how she wishes she never caused this pain upon them.

They stay like that for a little while. None of them wanting to let the other go.

* * *

Stretching slightly and trying to work the pain in her neck out Naomi realizes she's not alone in her bed. She feels warmth on either side of her and sees that Cook and Effy are asleep next to her. Naomi looks at them for a few moments, just thinking, thinking about all of the parties they've crashed, all the times they've shared. She surprises herself again that she's not crying. Eventually blaming it on shock.

She lays back down flat on the bed and gazes up at the ceiling. She thinks of her mum and how much she misses her and wishes she was here to guide her through this. She thinks of all her failed relationships, all of those girls. Her heart was never entirely in it. She could never bring herself to give someone else her heart, the thought reminding her that she's never been in love. She feels a pang of regret in her stomach as she thinks about that.

She decides to get up and have a shower. So many thoughts plaguing her mind as she gets ready for the day.

Not wanting to wake up her two best friends she leaves a note in the middle of the bed where she was sleeping .

_Gone out to the office for a bit, be back soon._

_N xoxox_

She walks out of the building and onto the street, deciding that she would rather walk than take her car. It's cloudy out and looks as if it may rain, but she's beyond caring. Happy to have the fresh air in her lungs to clear her mind.

She reaches the large steps to her office building. Takes note that for some reason it all looks different today, everything looks different even though she has seen it all thousands of times before.

She has worked for a prestigious political magazine, writing articles about current politics and political debauchery. She's never really liked it though. Always found it a bit boring.

But today is different. She's on a sort of mission today, she thought long and hard about it in the shower and had come to a decision. She's going to quit her job. She doesn't want to waste the time she has left on working a trivial job that hasn't given her any satisfaction for years. That and her boss is quite a prick.

"Ah! Naomi! I thought you had today off?" her boss, Mark asks her with a fake smile on his face. His insincerity is what she hates most about him.

"Came in to pick up a few things, Mark" she answers, vaguely.

"Nonsense! Now that I have you here you wouldn't mind looking over a few things for me would you?" he asks, again with the fake smile that really is actually kind of creepy.

He never seems to do any of his own work, always piling it on Naomi or someone else. He's also a horrible writer, she's often wondered how he got the job in the first place.

"Actually Mark, Yeah I would mind" she snaps back at him.

"Now Naomi Darling, is that any way to talk to your boss?" he shoots back, though he seemed surprised at Naomi's sudden bravery.

"Ex-Boss" Naomi says pointedly.

"Excuse me?" Mark says, completely taken aback.

"I quit Mark, I fucking quit" Naomi says, standing up straight. " You can shove it all up your tits, Mark!"

Mark looks like a fish, just opening and closing his mouth, in complete shock. "Fucking wanker" Naomi says as she walks past him into her office.

She gathers everything in her office into a small box, looking through some photo frames she has scattered around. A lot of them of her, Cook and Effy and a few of her mum. Nostalgia settling in, she sits down at her desk and looks around the small office and smiles slightly to herself.

Live for today she tells herself. Live for fucking today.

* * *

Walking back to the loft her and Cook share she decides to make a detour to grab a coffee. Sleep didn't come to her easily the night before, she kept dreaming of hospital beds and the smell of disinfectant.

She feels her cell phone vibrate in her pocket and sees that she has a text from Effy.

_U OK? -E_ it says, and Naomi can't help but laugh slightly at that. She's so used to Effy being sarcastic and all knowing. She's not used to Effy being concerned.

_All good, Eff. No worries -N_. She quickly shoots back a reply. As she's putting her phone back into her pocket she rounds a corner and bumps into something, dropping her small box of belongings from the office and her purse on the ground.

As Naomi is finding her footing and trying to figure out exactly what she ran into she hears a husky voice.

"Oh shit, I am so so sorry. Fuck, I'm so clumsy! Are you alright?" The voice says and Naomi, after finally finding her balance looks down at the girl who is quite a bit shorter than her and has the reddest hair she's ever seen. It makes her stomach tumble and she doesn't know why. Dismisses it and blames it on the near fall.

"It's alright, I wasn't watching where I was going either" Naomi offers with a small smile on her face.

"Well let me help you with your stuff, It's the least I can do" The small girl says smiling shyly.

Naomi's about to say it's alright and to not worry about it but the red head is already bent down helping her pick up her things. Their hands bump briefly and Naomi feels as though she's been burned, and she can swear she hears a small gasp from the girl confirming that she felt it as well.

After sorting everything out and getting her things back together Naomi looks down at the girl again. "Thanks, you really didn't' have to do that"

"Oh nonsense" The red head offers with a slight chuckle.

Naomi doesn't know why she does it. She could have easily just brushed this off and walked away but the petite girl seemed to be standing there expectantly or maybe it was just Naomi's imagination, but nevertheless she introduces herself.

"I'm Naomi by the way" She says offering her hand to the girl.

"Emily. It's nice to meet you" Emily says taking Naomi's hand in her own and shaking it slightly.

Naomi feels slightly awkward and realizes she didn't plan out much conversation after the introduction.

"Well…erm…Thanks again…for your help" The blond says awkwardly and immediately feels embarrassed.

Emily just has a small smile on her face and Naomi takes that as her cue to leave. She walks about 3 steps before she hears Emily call out her name. She turns around to see Emily shuffling her feet back and forth nervously.

"Um…Could I buy you a coffee? To you know…make up for practically running you over?" the red head asks awkwardly.

Naomi thinks to herself for a second. She doesn't see any harm in it. When she tells Emily that that would be nice she notices the brown of Emily's eyes and feels that tumble in her stomach again.

But this time it only worries her.

* * *

**Feedback is awesome. Should I keep going or is this fic just depressing the hell out of you? haha**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Aye! It has been awhile. I apologize profusely for my absence! But I'm back with an update. Thank you to those of you who have read and reviewed! I'm aware that this story is depressing, but maybe there is a miracle cure? Eh? You'll just have to keep tuning in to find out ;) Hope everyone had a great Halloween! I hope November is good to you all! **

* * *

Chapter 3

_Time never said_

_"Best you enjoy yourself now because we're going somewhere soon."_

_But that's what he meant._

_-pleasefindthis  
_

"So what do you do for a living?" asked the small red head as they were sat in a cozy café.

The conversation had flowed quite easily, despite Naomi's hesitancy. They discussed Emily's twin sister and how she drives Emily bat shit insane sometimes. The blond also discovered that the petite girl's father owns a gym called Fitch Fitness and that she's a freelance photographer, mainly doing the odd gig here an there for a local newspaper or local magazines; but her real passion is just wondering about and taking pictures of anything she finds appealing, anything she finds beautiful.

"I…well…I'm taking some time off from work for a while" Naomi fumbled out. She didn't think it was a good idea to just flat out say _'Well I'm dying in about 8 months so that makes working really rather fucking pointless'. _She also figured she'd never see the gorgeous red head again after this and didn't see any harm in a little white lie.

'_Wait…did I just think that she's gorgeous?_' her inner monologue came out to play. She shook her head slightly. _'She's probably straight you git, get your head out of your knickers'._

Emily looked at her slightly confused for a moment but the look was replaced by a small smile. "I wish I could take some time off work, you're lucky" she said chuckling slightly.

'_Lucky? Oh, if you only knew Emily Fitch' _Naomi thought solemnly to herself but did her best to keep a smile plastered to her face.

"Yeah, Yeah I suppose I am" She hoped that it didn't come out sounding too forced.

They were both interrupted by an alarmingly obnoxious ringing coming from Naomi's pocket. She quickly grabbed it and put it to her ear without taking a peak as to who was calling.

"Hello?" she said, looking at Emily and mouthing '_Sorry_'. Emily just gave a kind smile and shrugged, nursing her coffee that has probably gone cold by now. That had been at the café for a while. Both losing track of time.

"We are going to go out and get so monumentally fucked up tonight, understand?" Effy's voice spoke from the other end.

"Eff, I don't know if I'm up to it" she said, speaking in a hushed voice.

"I'm not taking no for an answer Naomi. We. Are. Getting. Wasted. Tonight." Effy said, annunciating every word.

Naomi knew there was really no point in arguing with Effy, she was incredibly persuasive and always won. And why the fuck not? She thought to herself. She needs to start enjoying her life and really living. Going out and getting 'mental' as Cook would say, could be the best way to start this crazy rollercoaster ride she was about to endure.

"Alright, Stonem…Meet at my place?" Naomi asked.

"I'm already here you twat. See you when you get home?" Naomi could hear the smile in her voice.

"See you then" Naomi said while hanging up and placing her phone back into it's rightful place. She then looked over to the girl sitting across from her.

"I'm sorry about that, Where were we?" Naomi asked and was surprised at the sudden confidence in her voice. But was even more surprised as Emily took her turn to speak.

"Boyfriend I'm assuming?" Emily asked with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Nah, just one of my best mates. No boyfriend for me" Naomi said still taken aback by the fiery haired girls sudden interest in her love life.

Emily smirked and Naomi couldn't help but smile broadly in return at the other girls adorableness.

"Why not? Gorgeous girl like yourself and no boyfriend? Shame" The red head seemed to blurt out and immediately started blushing causing Naomi to blush in return.

'_Is she flirting with me?_' Naomi thought to herself and decided to push the envelope, let's face it she was never one for modesty. Especially when it came to her sexuality.

"Nah, I prefer the company of women" Naomi said watching the red heads reaction carefully, she smiled to herself when she saw a broad grin appear on Emily's face.

"Well Naomi, you and I have that in common" She said smirking and Naomi couldn't help but grin like a fool.

It was then that Naomi realized they had hardly spoken about herself this entire time. She mainly sat and listened to Emily rant about her sister and all the little things that make the beautiful red head tick. She decided that that was probably for the best. The less she knows about Naomi the better. Naomi always considered herself more of a listener anyways.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Emily's husky voice that she was beginning to find sexier by the minute.

"Shit! Is that really the time?" The red head said while looking at her watch. She then looked up at Naomi regretfully.

"I'm sorry Naomi, I completely lost track of time, I have to go meet my sister" Emily said while collecting her belongings.

"Oh it's quite alright, I should be going as well" Naomi said, when really she wanted to spend a little more time with the red head.

Emily finally having gathered her things stood up and Naomi followed. They shared a brief awkward moment, neither of them really knowing what to say or do.

Emily being a brave little thing spoke up first. "We should do this again sometime" She said, suddenly fascinated by her shoes and not wanting to look Naomi in the face.

Naomi was caught off guard and the cogs in her brain started turning. She wasn't sure if this was such a good idea. This girl has no idea about the serious situation unraveling itself and she's not sure if she wants to bring her into it. But there is something about Emily, something that she can't quite put her finger on. She decides that it wouldn't hurt to be acquaintances with the distractingly cute red head. And also in that moment promises herself that that's all it can ever amount to. Nothing more than simple acquaintances.

'_You're not gonna bring this girl down with you ,Campbell' _she says to herself.

"Yeah, I agree" Naomi finally says offering a sincere smile, causing Emily to look up abruptly with a ridiculously cute smile on her face.

Having exchanged numbers and Naomi being awkward and offering her a hand shake that Emily took with a shy smile on her face, they were now walking out of the café before stopping outside on the sidewalk.

"I better be seeing a text or phone call from you soon, Naomi" Emily said pointing her finger at Naomi and trying to be serious. But Naomi saw the playful glint in her eyes. "You will, Fitch. " Naomi said pointing her own finger at Emily to mock the small girl.

Emily just laughed " Alright, have a good night' she said slightly walking backwards, still facing Naomi.

"You too" Naomi said giving her a friendly smile, before turning around and walking in the opposite direction.

Naomi walked about 6 steps or so before peering over her shoulder to watch the retreating form of Emily, it must have been coincidence because Emily was looking over her own shoulder watching Naomi as well.

Emily gave her a quick wink before turning her head back in front of her and walking on.

* * *

Arriving at her apartment building she heard very loud music coming from her apartment. The bass shaking the floor slightly as she walked, fumbling in her purse for her keys, mumbling to herself ' Fucking twats, turn that down'

She couldn't help the large smile that came across her face as she took in the sight before her. Effy and Cook were jumping up and down on the couch, singing at the top of their lungs and giggling simultaneously.

"What in the fuck are you two idiots doing?" She hollered at them over the music, still smiling.

They both looked at her and Cook continued on dancing while Effy silently danced her way over to Naomi.

"Music therapy" Effy finally yelled once she reached the blond.

Effy then grabbed her hands and begin dancing with her, causing both of them to laugh loudly.

"Come on Nae, Get into the spirit!" Effy yelled.

Naomi thought fuck it. She took off her coat and threw it across the apartment and starting swaying her hips and jumping up and down to the beat. She then made her way over to Cook and jumped on his back, causing him to yelp slightly while Effy looked on, laughing and pointing.

"Let's get fucking mental!" Cook bellowed out, followed by a howl.

Naomi couldn't help but laugh and yell in his ear ,"You really need to come up with a new line, Cook!".

"Oi! It's my signature line, don't judge!" He yelled back, giggling.

Cook began running around the apartment with Naomi still attached to his back, they were trying to catch up with Effy, while Naomi's feet were kicking and flailing about in attempt to kick the dark haired girl in the bum.

"Twats! Stop!" Effy yelled back tripping and laughing uncontrollably.

Eventually all three of them ended up on the ground, out of breath and still giggling.

"Cook! Go turn off the music!" Effy yelled.

"Wot?" Cook yelled back, obviously not being able to hear her.

"For fucks sake" Naomi said to herself, getting up while kicking both of her best friends in their sides and making her way over to the stereo.

"The neighbors must hate us" Cook said with a proud smile on his face once the stereo had been turned off.

"Yeah because of you two wankers!" Naomi said making her way back to the floor to lay back down.

She looked over at Effy who had a small frown on her face.

"What's up, Eff?" The blond ask, slightly confused.

"Your nose is bleeding" Effy calmly replied while getting up to fetch some tissue.

Shit Naomi thought. Shit. Shit. Shit. A symptom. Bleeding is a symptom of the cancer. She quickly got up and grabbed the tissue from Effy. Making her way to the bathroom and locking it.

She laid her head back on the door and held the tissue to her nose. _This is how it fucking starts, _she says to herself. She thinks about dying. Wonders if she'll become a ghost, wonders if there is a heaven. But she quickly comes to the conclusion that there is, that that's where her Mum is. She has to believe that. She gives herself no other choice.

"Fuck this" She quietly says to herself while checking her nose. It's stopped bleeding. She cleans herself up and looks at her reflection in the mirror.

"Fuck this" She says again, slightly louder. She has a sudden feeling of motivation coursing through her like and electrical current. Deciding not to let herself feel down, to let herself enjoy what she has left.

Exiting the bathroom and meeting Cook and Effy's concerned faces she speaks with very clear, confident determination.

"Let's go get monumentally fucked"


End file.
